Soil Lab: Porosity and Permeability

Soil Lab:Porosity and Permeability
Environmental Science AP

Lab Group Members:1. ______2. ______

3. ______4. ______5. ______

Objectives:1. To explore the concepts of porosity and permeability by observing what effect particle size and shape have on the amount of water that can be held in the open spaces between particles and also how these two factors impact the rate of water flow.

A. In the first part of this lab, you will measure and compare the volume of water needed to fill pore spaces in each sample and then calculate the porosity of each sample.
B. In the second part of this lab, you will demonstrate the effects of particle size on permeability. You will measure the amount of water which exited the tube, then calculate the percentage of water each sample retained, as well as the rate of drainage.

Part I:Porosity

Materials:Fine Sand, Medium Sand, Gravel, Soil Tube & end cap, Graduated cylinder, Water, Plastic cups, bottle-top funnel.

Procedure:

1. Place cap on soil tube.2. Fill 100 mL grad. cylinder w/ water. Fill the soil tube w/ water from the grad. cylinder and note the volume of water required to fill up to2cmfromtop:(= total volume of tube.) Record this volume in the Data blanks. Empty the tube & dry it before going on.3. Fill the tube with fine sand( you will repeat steps for coarse sand and gravel); tap to gently settle and compact the particles. Add more of particle type to bring level 2 centimeters from the top.4. Fill grad. cylinder w/ water, noting volume.5. Now slowly pour water into soil tube until the sample is fully saturated and the water level just reaches the top of the soil level.6. Check the new water level in the grad. cylinder, and record volume of water added to the tube in the Data blanks.7. Calculate porosity of each of the three samples tested. Porosity is calculated by dividing the volume of the pore space by the total volume of the sample. Enter results for each in Data blanks as a percent.8. Empty your wet/used soil samples in the marked containers ( not the container that you got the dry soil from).

Data blanks:

Volume of water to fill tube(= total V of sample): ______mL.

Volume of water added to fine sand( = total V of pore space): ______mL:

Porosity = ____%

Volume of water added to coarse sand(= total V of pore space):______mL:

Porosity = ____%

Volume of water added to gravel(= total V of pore space): ______mL:

Porosity = ____%

Porosity = Volume of pore space X 100 = %

Total volume of sample ______

PART II: Soil Lab:Permeability

Materials:soil tubes, screening, rubber bands, plastic cup, fine sand, coarse sand, gravel, grad. cylinder, water, funnel, plastic cups.

Procedure:1. Fasten screening over one end of soil tube with rubber band.2. Fill tube with fine sand (you will repeat w/ coarse sand and gravel) up to one inch from the top.3. Tap gently to settle/compact sample.4. Fill grad. cylinder w/ water to 50 mL mark.5. While holding soil tube over a plastic cup, pour 50 mL of water into soil tube. Time & record how long it takes for all water to drain through tube.6. When water has completed draining, measure amount in grad. cylinder.7. Record value.8. Calculate percentage water retained by the soil particle type by subtracting amount of water drained into the cup from the 50mL amount originally added.9. Divide this difference by the original 50mL value to find the decimal amount and then multiply by 100 to arrive at the percentage.10. Now calculate the rate of drainage for each soil particle type by dividing the amount of water drained into the cup by the amount of time it took the water to drain.11. Return “used” soil samples to marked containers. Thank you.

Data blanks:

Sample Drainage

a) for Fine Sand ______seconds/minutes

b) Coarse Sand ______seconds/minutes

c) Gravel ______seconds/minutes

Volume of water in cup (Fine Sand) ______mL

Volume of water in cup (Coarse Sand) ______mL

Volume of water in cup (Gravel) ______mL

Retention % = Volume of water added(50mL) – Volume of water in cup X 100

Total volume of water added (50 mL)

Retention Percentage (Fine Sand) ______%

Retention Percentage (Coarse Sand) ______%

Retention Percentage (Gravel) ______%

Drainage Rate for Fine Sand ______mL/sec. (cubic centimeters/sec.)

Drainage Rate for Coarse Sand ______mL/sec.

Drainage Rate for Gravel ______mL/sec.